Recent DC Events

My Evening at Home with Seven Reasons

by Kathy Cleary, Dame de la Chaîne

Dame de la Chaîne Kathy Cleary shares her experience at the bailliage’s first on-line event:

Like many in the Bailliage of Greater Washington, I was excited for our March dinner at Maître Rôtisseur Enrique Limardo’s acclaimed Seven Reasons restaurant in downtown Washington. I had agreed to do the write-up and had joined members of the Bailliage’s Board at the tasting dinner in early March where we finalized the menu with the chef and paired the wines. We were treated like royalty and the food and service were superb. The event was certain to be spectacular and it sold out quickly.

Then the coronavirus pandemic hit and our Seven Reasons dinner – along with everything else – was cancelled. Chef Limardo was undeterred, however. He worked with our bailli, Judy Mazza, to reinvent our event as a delivered multi-course dinner and virtual gathering on Zoom.

Early in the evening of May 29, staff from Seven Reasons delivered the complete meal – everything from a welcome cocktail to mignardise, and at 7:00pm we all gathered on-line. Chef Limardo joined the Zoom from his home and engaged in conversation and answered questions about the dishes from members of the bailliage throughout the evening.

We began with a snack of foie gras mousse, soursop reduction, and a small loaf of  house-made brioche  paired with a Seven Reasons specialty cocktail. Some diners were treated to the “Pretty Hot & Tempting,” a spicy and smoky concoction of Patron Silver Tequila, Lapsang Tea Shochu, ancho verde, papaya, lemon, and Habanero, all garnished with a slice of dehydrated blood orange. Others, including me, received an Old Fashioned made with Monkey Shoulder Scotch, Santa Theresa 1796 rum, Amaro, and fig.

It was so fun to receive the cocktail in a Mason jar accompanied by broad sections of lemon and orange zest allowing us to add that citrus oil for the final preparation after ice. I am not a spirits drinker, but this was definitely a cocktail I could get used to, maybe because of my affinity for digestif type bitters and amaro. This cocktail was the perfect companion for the rich and buttery foie gras mousse. I initially thought the soursop was an apple-caramel reduction and so was surprised to learn it is a tropical fruit! Other guests suggested the soursop had notes of apple, guava, and apricot – definitely a lovely foil to the luxurious foie. I warmed up my yellow buttery brioche and the foie almost melted a bit on it. It was decadently rich, and I saved some for another meal.

I was very happy to see plump and inviting Maine scallops with coco, curry and black garlic waiting for me next. I chose not to reheat these at all; they arrived cooked absolutely perfectly and I didn’t want to risk overcooking them. I guessed wrong that the shellfish was presented on a purée of sweet potato – no, it was purple taro root, puréed with a subtle curry and black garlic and topped with a ‘gravy’ of fish stock, jelly, and coconut milk. And the detail of the sprinkle of chives was not lost on me. I sopped up every remnant of the sauce with tiny bites of scallop – there was no saving any of this amazing dish for another day!

Chef Limardo included two bottles of wine with the dinner: The white wine was 2018 Amalaya, a blend of torrontés (85%) and riesling (15%) from Salta, Argentina. The best torrontés grapes come from the high-elevation vineyards of Salta, and although they impart sweet aromas, they create a dry wine. For the red, the chef chose Tikal Patriota, a bold yet balanced blend of old-vine bonarda (60%) and malbec (40%) aged for 12 months in a mix of French and American oak barrels. From the Valle de Uco in Argentina, this intense wine was wonderfully suited to Chef Limardo’s flavorful cuisine.

I opened the Tikal to pair with the scallops. I would have liked to try to the white torrontés with them – the minerality of the crisp white would have been a nice counterpoint to the rich taro root, but dining for one has its limitations, including only opening one bottle on a work night! I was pleased that the Tikal was much lighter and less tannic than a 100% malbec, making it a lovely pairing for the scallops and remainder of the meal.

Next up, “Rice from the Woods” – a delicious dish of bomba rice with maitake, shishito and pickled fennel. The chef shared with the group that the stock used to prepare the rice incorporates between 40-50 vegetables in the base, WOWZA! How does that song go, “50 ways to get your veggies during corona…”? It was so rich, I thought had to have been meat-based, but it was not — the intensity originated with just a ‘basic’ mirepoix of fifty veggies! Chef Limardo is truly a master of flavor. Many whole and chopped maitake were featured with the generous portion of rice. Maitake translates from Japanese to “dancing mushroom” for its resemblance to the “waving hands and kimono sleeves of dancing girls” – a better visual than its American name, hen-of-the-woods.

I nibbled gingerly on one of the shishito that joined the mushrooms and decided they were flavorful and brightened up the presentation of the bomba, but I could only handle the one! Spicy was to be expected from our Latin chef. Interestingly, other diners found that the roasting had yielded their peppers quite mild, a fascinating discovery about the natural variation among individual peppers. The pickled fennel on the other hand was a tart offset to the rich and creamy rice allowing the taste buds to go in another direction.

For the main course, Chef Limardo sent lamb loin with strawberry chimichurri, a dark chocolate sauce, and roasted marble potatoes with herbs. The two generous portions of lamb arrived perfect medium to medium rare. The strawberry chimichurri was definitely one of my favorite parts of the meal – there’s nothing better than fresh fruit and herbs to bring out the full flavor of the lamb. The chef’s preparation reminded me of the classic preparation of butterflied leg of lamb grilled with a Cumberland sauce, a recipe I have made many times over the years. But I now have a new twist to consider! There was also a second sauce, a rich lamb stock reduction emulsified with unsweetened dark and milk chocolate! I honestly never would have guessed the chocolate flavors were there; they were subtle but added rich complexity and layers of flavor. The tiny marble potatoes were the first of the desserts in my mind, soft center, chewy skin, swirled in the rich stock, like a blondie brownie bite with chocolate sauce.

Our dinner concluded with a trio of sweets, beginning with a cacao tart and porcini toffee. Almost a French-style pastry, this square tart began with a crust of crispy chocolate filled with a layer of toffee with porcini – similar to salted caramel, but with the intriguing, earthy porcini nuances. A creamy chocolate buttercream piped in perfect rosettes completed the eye-catching dessert. With two sweets to go, I only ate a small corner and enjoyed the rest the next day.

How fun to receive a paper bag with the fresh baked meringue as the next treat! The vanilla and chocolate fluffy egg white confection was swirled like a soft serve cone with a light and crispy exterior and a marshmallowy center! I ate this all up, it was so light and delicate I knew it would be best fresh.

I fortunately saved room for one of the chef’s cri-cri mignardise. These were a lovely house-made chocolate bar with a peanut butter toffee center. I saved three for the rest of the week. I will definitely get more of these – they would be great to have to offer guests at the end of a meal, maybe with a sip of port.

Before our Zoom session ended, Bailli Judy Mazza thanked Chef Limardo and Executive Sous Chef Nacho Useche and congratulated them on successfully recreating the Seven Reasons culinary experience at home. Judy had sent to Nacho a Chaîne pin  and silver wine coaster and to the chef a framed Chaîne challenge coin given only to members of the Bailliage of Greater Washington as tokens of the bailliage’s appreciation for their creativity and hard work in creating such a memorable event for us.

I am looking forward to dining in-person again at Seven Reasons. The quality and creativity of the food, attention to every detail, and global flair emanating from Chef Limardo’s strong Venezuelan roots make dining under his leadership a special experience. Fortunately, coronavirus related restrictions are being lifted and I’m excited that I’ll be dining soon in Seven Reasons outdoor space with fellow Chaine members Sudha Srinivasan and Nicole Schiegg. They share a birthday and I am confident that Seven Reasons team will delight us again and we will have rave reviews to share.